Now lawSchools & Uni Introduced in the House of Representatives, 26 Nov 2025

National commission now steers the university system

This law sets up the Australian Tertiary Education Commission. It plans and guides the university system. It signs deals with each university, reports on how things are going and gives ministers advice. It must also help students who find it harder to study.

Official name: Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025

Who it affects

• Universities: They must agree a deal with the commission. It sets goals they are checked against each year.
• Students who face barriers to study: The commission must look at how its work affects First Nations, country, disabled and low-income students.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: A First Nations Commissioner and a First Nations advice group give advice on how they get in and do well.
• The Minister for Education: The Minister sets the main goals for the commission. The Minister can give it some general orders.
• TAFE and other job training: TAFE is the network of public colleges for job training. The commission can give advice on links between universities and job training. It makes no decisions about job training.

Universities had no single planner

In 2024 a big review of universities gave its final report. It was called the Australian Universities Accord. It said no one body was in charge of planning for the future. No one was in charge of making the system fairer and better.

It said there should be a new body to look after the whole system. This law creates that body. It is called the Australian Tertiary Education Commission. Tertiary education means study after school, like uni and job training.

The Minister for Education, Jason Clare, brought it in with a partner bill. The partner bill moves some jobs from other laws to the commission. It also handles the changeover.

Who runs the commission

The commission is led by three people. They are the Chief Commissioner, the First Nations Commissioner and one other Commissioner. The minister picks them for up to five years.

The First Nations Commissioner must be an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person. They must have a strong grasp of the issues their communities face.

At least one of the three must have solid know-how in job training. That is training for a trade or job, such as courses at a TAFE college.

For some legal purposes, the commission sits inside the Department of Education. It uses the department's staff. It can set up groups to give it advice. It must set up a First Nations advice group.

Goals it must follow

The law sets out a big goal for study after school. It says this study should help build a strong and fair democracy. That democracy should cope with hard times. It should also help the country, the economy and society grow. And it should care for the environment.

The commission must keep this goal in mind in all its work. It must also try to help people who find it harder to study. The law names First Nations people and people with disability. It also names people from low-income homes and people in country Australia.

Deals with each university

The commission signs a deal with each university listed in the main university funding law, the Higher Education Support Act 2003. The law calls these Table A and Table B providers. The deal is called a mission based compact. It sets out what the uni is for. It also sets a short list of goals.

Each year the commission checks each university against its deal. It must look at the steps the university took. It must also look at any problems the university could not control.

If a university keeps falling short, the commission can put its deal on hold. A standard deal then applies. The commission sets its terms. While that standard deal applies, the commission must meet the university every 3 months.

A university must have a deal in place to keep getting government grants.

Say a country university promises to take in more students from nearby farm towns. The commission would check each year if that is happening. If not, it would look at what got in the way.

Advice, reports and plans

The commission gives advice to ministers when the Education Minister asks. That includes national, state and territory ministers for universities and training. Topics can include the cost of each course. They can also include how to cut red tape, meaning extra rules and paperwork.

The commission also gives advice on the basic rules every university and college must meet. That job used to belong to the Higher Education Standards Panel, an expert group.

Every year the commission must put out a report on how study after school is going. The first covers 2026. Every two years, starting in 2027, it must put out its main goals and a work plan.

The law also lists a future job. If the minister says so, the commission could cap how many overseas students each uni or college can take in. The government says the details will come in later laws, along with changes to university funding.

How independent it is

The government says it is key that the commission can think for itself. The minister can tell the commission what the government cares about most. The commission must take this into account. These notices must be made public within 4 weeks.

The minister can also give general orders about how the commission does its work. But the minister cannot tell it what advice to give or what to decide. The minister cannot tell it how to treat one university.

Outside reviews of the law will happen 2 and 5 years after it starts.

Start date

The bill went to the House of Representatives on 26 November 2025. The House passed it on 10 February 2026.

The Senate is the second house of Parliament. It passed the bill on 30 March 2026. First it agreed to 15 changes from the Greens. It also agreed to 21 changes from independent Senator David Pocock. The House agreed to those changes on 31 March 2026.

The Governor-General, the King's representative, signed it into law on 1 April 2026. It became Act No. 25 of 2026. It starts on the 28th day after it was signed.

This article is based on the government's notes on the bill as first brought in. The Senate's changes may have changed some details. These could include the commission's powers or how free it is.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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